Missile Command and Centipede Movies Planned

Missile Command and Centipede movies are on the way through Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films

Some classic Atari video games are heading to the big screen as Deadline today brings word that both Missile Command and Centipede movies are in development thanks to a new partnership with Emmett / Furla / Oasis Films.

The tile antagonist of Centipede appeared in last year’s sci-fi comedy Pixels. It’s a pretty safe bet that the Centipede movie won’t have any specific connections to that film, although it remains to be seen exactly how narratives for both films will develop given the simplistic nature of the games themselves.

Released in 1982, Centipede‘s official backstory was explained in a 12 page comic book that accompanied the original game manual. It reveals that the centipede game follows a tiny elf named Oliver whose entire village has been turned into mushrooms by an evil wizard. Oliver winds up getting a hold of the wizard’s magic wand, however, and then fights off waves of insects and spiders controlled by the evil mage.

Whether or not the Centipede movie retains any aspects of that story remains to be seen.

Directly influenced by the Cold War climate of its 1980 release, Missile Command, meanwhile,saw gamers defend six US cities from projectile attacks. Bizarrely, the game soon received an official backstory that relocated the game’s setting to an alien planet:

Aliens from the planet of Krytol have begun an attack on the planet Zardon. The Krytolians are warriors out to destroy and seize the planet of Zardon. Zardon is the last of the peaceful planets. The Zardonians are skillful and hardworking people. Their cities are built-up and rich in resources. It is truly a planet void of crime and violence.

Zardon has built a powerful defense system. Several antiballistic missile bases have been established within the cities of Zardon. The Zardonians are ready for this attack, and are prepared to fight to save their cities.

As base commander it is your responsibility to protect and defend six cities on the planet of Zardon. The Krytolians have begun firing interplanetary ballistic missiles. They are aiming at your cities and missile bases. Your only defense is to fire back with antiballistic missiles. But watch out, the Krytolians are sly, they also have cruise missiles. Cruise missiles look like satellites, but they are just as deadly as the interplanetary ballistic missiles.

Both the Missile Command movie and the Centipede movie will be produced by Randall Emmett and George Furla with Stephen Belafonte, Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones serving as executive producers.

Do you have any interest in either a Missile Command or a Centipede movie? Are there any other classic Atari games that you’d like to see get film adaptations? Let us know in the comments below!